The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has introduced significant changes to the way Indian Premier League (IPL) auctions are conducted, especially with regards to overseas players. In the IPL 2024 auction, Starc shattered all records, becoming the most expensive player in the history of the T20 league, after being roped in for INR 24.75 crore by Kolkata Knight Riders. However, such a situation would no longer be possible, at least from the player’s point of view. Ahead of the IPL 2025 auction, BCCI proposed a new regulation that would make overseas players ineligible to earn more money than those sold or retained in the mega auction.
Starc marked his IPL return in the 2024 season, making him available for the mini-auction, where he fetched a record-breaking price from the Knight Riders. However, his return to the T20 league was also met with criticism, with critics suggesting that certain overseas players only make themselves available for mini-auction, with the attempt being to cash-in on the skewed demand-supply ratio.
From the IPL 2025 season onwards, however, that wouldn’t be possible.
According to a report in Cricbuzz, an overseas player will have to register himself for the mega auction (2025), if he is to participate in the IPL 2026 and IPL 2027 seasons. Space for a few exceptions have also been made, for cases where the player is either injured or has a medical condition. But such a scenario would need to be confirmed by the home board.
The overseas players will also have a salary cap in the IPL 2026 auction. The maximum fee an overseas player can earn in the mini-auction will be determined by the highest retention fee of a player or the price another player manages to fetch in the mega-auction. The amount lower between the two will be considered.
Example: If Virat Kohli is retained by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for a fee of INR 18 crores and Deepak Chahar is bought for a fee of INR 15 crore during the 2025 mega auction, then no overseas player would be eligible to earn more than INR 15 crore in the subsequent mini-auction.
In a case where Deepak Chahar is signed in the mega auction for INR 20 crores, then the maximum amount an overseas player can stand to earn would be INR 18 crore (Virat Kohli’s retention fee).
While the franchises will be allowed to bid for as long as they like, the additional amount (over and above 18 crore or 15 crore, as explained above), would go to BCCI’s bank account and not the player’s.
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